2025 World Conference Legislation

From the First Presidency

Resolution

Resolved, That resolutions submitted for consideration by a World Conference not include preambles (“Whereas” statements); and be it further

Resolved, That the First Presidency define what additional information, such as background and supportive statements may be submitted with proposed resolutions and make provision for the publication of said information with the proposed resolutions.

From the First Presidency 

Resolution

Resolved, That World Conference Resolution 1315 be amended to read as follows (proposed deletions are indicated using the strike-out feature, and insertions are shown in bold): 

World Church Audit and Budget-development Policy

1. The World Conference shall establish a World Church Finance Board responsible for annually reviewing and approving the World Church audit, approving the annual Worldwide Mission Budget, and special appropriations. and making recommendations to the World Conference concerning special appropriations. The board shall present projections to each World Conference for annual budgets for the next inter-Conference period. These projections shall be based on the best estimates of potential church income and expenses, but they shall not bind the World Church Finance Board in developing and approving annual Worldwide Mission Budgets should circumstances change or income vary. The World Conference shall discuss these projections, and the input gained shall be considered by the World Church Finance Board in forming and approving these annual budgets.
2. The World Conference may establish parameters for the World Church Finance Board in developing and approving annual Worldwide Mission Budgets. 
3. The World Church Finance Board shall be presided over by the First Presidency and shall be composed of up to fifty-five (55) members as follows:
   1. First Presidency (3)
   2. Council of Twelve Apostles (12)
   3. Presiding Bishopric (3)
   4. President, High Priest Quorum (1)
   5. Senior president of seventy (1)
   6. Presiding evangelist (1) 
   7. Four (4) bishops elected by the Order of Bishops at World Conference to represent the order, with each elected for to serve a six-year term or until their successors are elected. Terms would be staggered so two (2) will be elected at each World Conference. 
   8. Thirty (30) members elected by the World Conference to represent the church at-large, with each elected for to serve a six-year term or until their successor is elected. Terms would be staggered so fifteen (15) would be elected at each World Conference. 
4. The First Presidency is authorized to appoint board members when vacancies occur between World Conferences. These appointments must follow the same criteria for the vacancy being filled.
5. The bishops elected by the Order of Bishops as members of the World Church Finance Board shall be church members in good standing, may be current employees of Community of Christ in local or World Church jurisdictions, and may not serve more than two (2) consecutive full (six-year) terms without a three-year break in service. A term completed by a person appointed to fill an inter-Conference vacancy is not a full term. 
6. Individuals elected by World Conference as members of the World Church Finance Board shall: be church members in good standing, shall not be current employees of Community of Christ in local or World Church jurisdictions, and may not serve more than two (2) consecutive full terms (six years) without a three-year break in service. A term completed by a person appointed to fill an inter-Conference vacancy is not a full term.
   1. be church members in good standing,
   2. not be current employees of Community of Christ in local or World Church jurisdictions, except that, where an employee of the church in a multi-nation jurisdiction is nominated for election, the First Presidency may accept such a nomination,
   3. not serve more than two (2) consecutive full terms without a full-term break in service, 
   4. understand that a term completed by a person appointed to fill an inter-Conference vacancy is not a full term.
7. The Worldwide Mission Budget shall provide funds to cover travel expenses as requested by World Church Finance Board members. 
8. The First Presidency, in consultation with the Presiding Bishopric, shall make nominations to the World Church Finance Board for election by the World Conference. In addition, each World Conference shall allow nominations from the floor. These nominations shall occur early enough to allow biographical sketches of the nominees to be available to the World Conference before the election. In the nomination process, attention shall be given to balanced representation, including factors such as vocation, geographic residence, age, gender, church leadership experience, and church jurisdiction. The First Presidency shall form the specific procedures to conduct voting, including use of prevailing technology as appropriate. The fifteen (15) individuals receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected. The First Presidency shall provide the specific procedure in the event of ties. 
9. The First Presidency shall appoint a team to handle preliminary preparation of the budget. This committee shall be composed of World Church personnel responsible for church programming, finance, and field ministries. 
10. The annual audit and budget shall be made available on the church website. The Herald shall publish an annual report on the audit and budget, and a A summary report shall be printed annually in the Herald and made to each World Conference.

From the Kentucky-Indiana USA Mission Center

Resolution

Resolved, That the appropriate team or presiding officers, in consultation with other World Church leaders, consider the possibility of applying Creative Commons licenses to some or all of the creative works currently copyrighted by all corporations associated with the World Church.

From the World Church Peace and Justice Team

Resolution

Be it Resolved, That Community of Christ opposes any use of scripture that promotes an end-times theology that misunderstands and misstates God’s plan for restoring Christ’s Kingdom on Earth, such as that proposed by Christian Zionism, and be it further

Resolved, That Community of Christ rejects Christian Zionism’s presumption that ethnic Jews have priority to inhabit the Holy Land, ignoring human worth and God’s love for all its inhabitants and be it further

Resolved, That Community of Christ restates and reaffirms its belief in the inestimable worth of all persons.

From the Canada East Mission Centre

Resolution

Resolved, That the Temple and the Auditorium in Independence, Missouri, be declared essential for the enduring mission of the church, and as such, any or all decisions regarding the sale or mortgage of the Temple and/or the Auditorium must be made in keeping with the principle of Common Consent by means of direct authorization by the World Conference of the church.

From the Canada East Mission Centre

Resolution

Whereas, Community of Christ is working its way through several governance-related transitions, including non-geographic congregations operating on social-media platforms, the establishment of some policies applicable only within certain national churches, the cultural shift of moving from a people with a prophet toward being a prophetic people, and the increased use of technology to allow for remote participation for conferences, as well as sophisticated polling tools to allow for consensus-building practices within conferences. Therefore, be it

Resolved, That this Conference authorize the creation of a Special World Church Committee to investigate and propose recommendations for updated bylaws and governance models, to better meet current and anticipated future needs of an international church with multiple national jurisdictions, all the while upholding common consent as an important principle of our governance heritage; and be it further

Resolved, That this Committee provide a report to the 2028 World Conference.

From the Greater Pacific Northwest USA Mission Center

Resolution

Resolved, That Community of Christ join with others to call for an accelerated, just transition to renewable energy in a fair and inclusive manner that benefits all peoples instead of the few while supporting countries and communities most vulnerable to the impacts of the climate emergency; and be it further

Resolved, That Community of Christ join with others and call for the expansion of fossil-fuel infrastructure to cease and support an immediate and urgent demand to transition away from all fossil-fuel-based energy production; and be it further

Resolved, That Community of Christ call upon its members, congregations, and jurisdictions to declare our intent to divest from fossil-fuel investments, following the process that the World Church is modeling: that is, to research, educate ourselves, and divest from companies that continue to invest in and promote fossil fuels; and be it further

Resolved, That Community of Christ declare its support for a just and responsible Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.

From the Cedar Valley Nauvoo USA Mission Center

Resolution

Whereas the World Church has frozen field assets in the Affiliate Investment Pool (AIP) system and indicated that they would borrow, at 0% for an indefinite time any funds they needed to satisfy their retirement obligations, and

Whereas, this has made field stewards reluctant to put more funds in AIP accounts, and those stewards have been thereby damaged by not having available an option to invest wisely, and

Whereas, in the past, the World Church promised that funds deposited in the AIP pool would always be available to the depositors, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the World Church will operate the financial pool known as the AIP system to invest funds wisely from various field organizations and to provide that those funds will always be available to the field organizations that deposited them, or if the depositor organization cannot act or no longer exists, then the funds will be at the disposal of the next-higher administrative organization.

From the Cedar Valley Nauvoo USA Mission Center

Resolution

Whereas the World Church has declared that they have the unilateral authority to take and or to sell any property held in the name of Community of Christ at any level of administration of the church, and

Whereas this has not been the historical practice of the church, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the World Church in their role as trustee of the entire church will give priority in property decisions to the interests of the primary stewards, those responsible for the preservation and protection of church property. This includes not selling property without the consent of the primary stewards or in the case where the primary stewards are unable to act, then the consent goes to the next higher administrative level of stewards, and be it further

Resolved, That the net proceeds of any sale of property should stay with the current primary steward, or if that current steward no longer exists or is unable to act, the net proceeds will go to the next higher steward in the administration.

From the Midlands USA Mission Center

Resolution

Whereas, Community of Christ embraces the Enduring Principle of Continuing Revelation, and

Whereas, Continuing revelations are compiled and published in the Doctrine and Covenants, and

Whereas, Concerns expressed as in Section 116 brought before the 2023 Conference emphasized the need for clarification of historical and cultural contexts in which documents were received as scripture, and

Whereas, The Conference action removing some sections to an Appendix, and a later Resolution 1215 (1990) removed the Appendix leaving unexplained gaps in the book (sections 107, 108A, 109, 110, and 123) and related issues, and

Whereas, A book can be expected to pay for its publication by its sales, and

Whereas, The digital (searchable) edition of the Doctrine and Covenants provided in 2023 adds significantly to our scriptural repository, and

Whereas, A new edition celebrating our bicentennial in 2030 would have a revitalizing effect, therefore be it

Resolved, That this Conference request the First Presidency consider preparing a bicentennial edition of the Doctrine and Covenants to include: historical and cultural contexts of revelations to facilitate understanding, clarifying our appreciation of scripture, and celebrating our heritage; and be it further

Resolved, That the First Presidency consider making it available in multiple languages online at no cost, while at the same time being available bound for purchase.

From the Midlands USA Mission Center

Resolution

Whereas, Community of Christ offers scripture unique and instructive to the world, and

Whereas, Section 163 invites us to become a prophetic people sharing our sacred journey, and

Whereas, From the beginning, God has spoken to humanity through many sources including truth and knowledge, hymns, personal revelation, arts, and sciences in every culture representing divine insights, and

Whereas, Great religions share commonalities with the gospel of Christ, therefore be it

Resolved, That the First Presidency consider a compilation-abridgment of God’s insights to the modern world be prepared by qualified volunteers appointed to this mission by the First Presidency to highlight counsel, inspiration, and support for the Enduring Principles from the world’s cultures, and be it further

Resolved, That the First Presidency consider making this edition available in multiple languages online at no cost to the consumer. (However, it may also be bound and sold), and be it further

Resolved, That the First Presidency consider making a draft of this compilation-abridgment available in 2028 to the joint council and a refined copy be prepared for the bi-centennial celebration of the Book of Mormon and establishment of the Church in 2030.

From the World Church Earth Stewardship Team

Resolution

Resolved, That the Earth Stewardship Team be directed to continue to address the issues of climate and environmental concern by producing resources for study and exploration with focus on issues worldwide; and be it further

Resolved, That requirements be in place for any new construction of church facilities to adhere to eco-friendly practices regarding energy usage and sustainability; and be it further

Resolved, That World Church jurisdictions and individual households be encouraged to evaluate the need to upgrade, renovate, and innovate in order to maintain existing properties and facilities and to recognize good energy practices and use of vital resources; and be it further

Resolved, That every Apostolic Field and Jurisdiction be encouraged to organize and conduct peace colloquia to focus on environmental issues unique to their locality; and be it further

Resolved, That projects be organized that promote strategies for care of Earth’s resources specifically designed to involve children and youth and which consider the use of campgrounds and church facilities as sites to demonstrate and model good stewardship practice; and be it further

Resolved, That the Earth Stewardship Team and church officers explore ways to support research and innovations that mitigate environmental degradation and contribute to a healthy Earth; and be it further

Resolved, That World Church officials explore opportunities to be involved in discourse with organizations and movements that speak to the plight of vulnerable and at-risk populations of the world, addressing the consequences of climate change as a matter of justice.

From the World Church Human Rights Team

Resolution

Resolved, That Community of Christ identify and act on ways that it may, in socially responsible ways, respond to the climate change emergency and that it encourage its members, at an individual, congregational, and regional level, to do likewise; and be it further;

Resolved, That in keeping with its continued commitment and desire to educate, advocate and respond, the church develop and identify for its members and the global community scriptural, theological, and historical study and discussion resources pertaining to the climate change emergency and its impact on human rights; and be it further;

Resolved, That the church, as a global Christian community, declares that it supports the call for more inclusive national laws and policies and international coordination, including a treaty/treaties of the United Nations, that recognize the legitimate refugee status of persons forced to leave their homes and countries as a result of climate change; and be it further

Resolved, That the responsibility for continued response by the church to the climate change emergency be referred to the First Presidency for the adoption of further reports and/or official statements, and if deemed appropriate by the First Presidency, additional legislation to be presented to the 2028 World Conference; and be it further

Resolved, That the First Presidency direct the Temple School or another appropriate body to develop educational materials over the next three years to establish a curriculum (with components appropriate for youth and adults) designed to raise awareness of the climate change emergency and promote ways to respond to this.

From the World Church Peace and Justice Team

Resolution

Resolved, That Community of Christ reaffirms its commitment to WCR 1270 and calls, with urgency, for all nations in which the church is established to reexamine firearms policies to determine how best to reduce firearm availability in private hands, and be it further

Resolved, That the church calls upon nations of the world in which the church is established to adopt firearm program and regulation regimes that have been demonstrated to substantially limit gun violence, and be it further

Resolved, That the church requests the Peace and Justice Team to prepare study materials for congregations and members to use to advocate for the most effective means of reducing gun violence in local communities.